The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-03-16
" Life Is q Jest,
And all things show IT.
] thought 50 once,
Pnf now know r.

| uO" ludpt OLaU, LII q Pi1Co VI o0P-
ulchre, men should try their witticisms A
great German having rejected Christ, in his
last moment said: "Give me light, give me
light" Oh, we may be smart with our witt
cism about the last hour; but when it comes,
and the tides are rising. and the surf is beat
| ing, and the winds are bowling, we VIII each
one, my brethren, find for himself that it is
"the swelling of Jordan!" Our natural courage
won't hold out then. However familiar we
NAV have been with scenes of mortality,
however much we may have screwed cur
courage up, we want something more
than natural resources When the north
east wind blows. off from ., the ,ut.s sea
The lamp Of the Gospel, God-lighted, is the
only lamp that can stand in that blast. The
weakest arm holding that shall not be con-
/ founded; the strongest one rejecting that shall
stumble and die. When the Jordan rises in
its wrath, the first dash Of its wave will
swamp them for ever. We feel how sad it Is
|. for man to attempt this life. without re-
| ligion. We see what doleful thing it is
! for q man to go down into the misfor-
| tunes Of life without Christian solace; but
| If that be so, how much more terrible when
| that man comes face to face with the solemnl-
ties of the last hour! Oh, if in the bright sun
shine Of health and prosperity man felt the
| when the shadows of The last hour gather
above his pillowa If, in the warmth OF
worldly prosperity, he was sometimes dis.
| mayed how will he feel when the last chill
cresps over hima If, while things were COM
paratively smooth he was disquieted, what
| will he do in the agonies Of dissolution! III,
| in the land of peace in which he trusted, they
wearied him. what will he DO amid the swell
| ling Of Jordanw
Oh, I re; ;oice to know that so many of Gods
children have gone through thatPass without
shudderl Some one said to dying Chris
tian: "Isn't it hard for you to get out of this
worldr' ''Oh, no" he says, sit is easy dying,
it is blessed dying, it is glorious dying" and
then he pointed to clock on the wal, and ne
said: "The last two hours in which have been
dying, have had more JOY than all the years
! Of my life" A general came into the hospital
after the battle, and there were many seriously
wounded, and there was one man dying, and
the general said: "Ah, my dear fellow, you
seem very much wounded. am afraid you
ere not going to get well" "No," said the
feel very happyW Oh, have seen them, and
so have YOU, 20 out of this life without q tear
on their cheek! There was weeping all round
che room, but no weeping in the bed; the
cheeks were dry. They were not thrown down
into darkness, they were Lifted up.
We saw the tides rising. around them
washed them off from the cares and tolls OF
life; it washed them on toward the beach OF
heaven. They waved to us farewell kiss as
they stood on deck, and hoated down further
and further, waited by gales from heaven,
until they were lost to our sight-mortallty
having become immortality:
"Life's duty done, as sinks the clay,
Light from its load the spirit flies;
While heaven and earth combine to say,
How blest the righteous when hs dies!'
What high consolation to you that your de-
parted friends were not submerged in the
Swelling Of Jordan! The Israelites were just
as thoroughly alive on the western banks OF
the Jordan; as they had been on the eastern
banks of the Jordan; and our departed Chris
tian friends have only crossed over--not SICK,
not dead, not exhausted, not extinguished,
not blotted out, but with healthier resplra-
ton and stouter pulses, and keener eyeslght,
and better prospects, crossed over, their sins,
their physical and mental disquiet, all left
clear this side, an eternally flowing, lmpassa-
BILE obstacle between them and all human and
Satanic pursuit. Crossed over! Oh, shake
hands of congratulation with all the bereaVed
in the consideration that our departed Christ
ian friends are Safe
Why was there, years ago, so much JOY In
certain circles in New York when people
heard from their friends who were on board
the City of Brussels! 1t was thought that
vessel had gone to the bottom OF the sea; and
when the friends on this side heard that the
steamer had arrived safely in Liverpool, had
we not the right to congratulate the people
in New York that their friends had goe
safely across? And is it not right this
morning that I congratulate you that
your departed friends are safe on the
shore Of heaven? Would you have them back
again? Would you have those old parents
back again? You know how hard it was some
times for them to get their breath in the stlfled
atmosphere of the summer; would you have
them back in our earthly summers, or chilled
of our winters3 Would you have your children
back again? Would you have them
take the risk of temptations which
throng every human pathways Would
YOU have them cross the Jordan three
times. In addition to having crossed 1T
already, cross it again to greet you now, and
then cross back afterward! For certainly you
would not want to keep them forever out OF
heaven. If they had lived forty or fifty years
longer, would they have been safea Perhaps
so, perhaps not.
"Pause and weep, not for the freed from
But that the sigh of love would pull them
back again"
1 ask question, and there seems to come
back the answer in heavenly echo: what!
will you never be sick again?" "Neyer-slcE
again!" "Never-tired-again what! Will
YOU never weep againi" "Never-weep
again" "What! will you never die againE'
"Never-die-again." Oh, ye army Of de-
parted kindred, we hail you from bank to
bank! Wait for us when the Jordan Of death
shall part for us. Come down and meet us
halfway between the widowed banks Of earth
and the palm groves of heaven
con Jordans stormy banks stand,
And cast wistful eye
To Canaan's fair and happy land,
Where my possessions lie.
o, the transporting, rapturous scene
That rises on my sight!
Sweet fields arrayed in living green,
And rivers of delight"
But there is one step still in advance sug-
gested by this subject. If this religion Of
Christ is so important in life, and so import
ant in the last hours of life, how much more
important it will be in the great eternity I
need not stand here and argue, it. There is
something within your soul that says now,
while speak: II am immortal; the stars
shall die, but am immortal" Y You feel
that your existence on earth is only
a small piece Of your being. 1t is only
mile up to the grave, but :.
is ten thousand miles beyond. This slab OF
the tomb is only the milestone on which we
read Of infinite distance yet, to be Travelled.
The world itself will grow old and die The
stars of our night will burn down in their
sockets and expire The sun, like spark
| struck from an anvil, will flash and go out.
! The winds will utter their last whisper, and
ocean heaye its last groan; but you
and I will live for ever! Gigantic
Immortal Mighty to suffer or enjoy:
or to sink Then, what will be to
us the store, the shop, the Office, the applause
| of the world, the scorn Of our enemies, the
! things that lifted us up, and the things that